Rim shots

Seeing Red

We’re not used to seeing Cornell in the NCAA tournament, but we might have to get used to it.

The Ivy League champion, 22-5 and winner of 16 games in a row, is making its first tournament appearance in 20 years, and its top players still have two more seasons of eligibility.

* Sophomore point guard Louis Dale averages 13.8 points and is among the nation’s best free-throw shooters at 90.6% (96 of 106).

* Sophomore swingman Ryan Wittman, whose father, Randy, coaches the Minnesota Timberwolves, leads the team with a 15.4 scoring average, shoots 46.6% (76 of 163) from three-point range and 86.2% (50 of 58) from the free-throw line.

* Guard Adam Gore, who averages 10.0 points and shoots 92.9% (65 of 70) from the free-throw line, is a junior academically but sat out all but one game last season and received a medical redshirt.

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All-around first-team guy

Junior guard Jack McClinton is the first Miami player to be selected first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference since the Hurricanes joined in 2004. He led the conference in three-point field-goal percentage (43.5%), three-point field goals made per game (2.9) and free-throw percentage (90.4%).

McClinton was also the only member of the first team to earn All-ACC Academic Team honors.

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The Dixon line

Pittsburgh Coach Jamie Dixon’s 131 victories in his first five seasons puts him behind only North Carolina State’s Everett Case (137 from 1947 to 1951), Gonzaga’s Mark Few (133; 2000-04) and Kansas’ Roy Williams (132; 1989-93) for the winningest five-year start by a Division I coach.

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Tennessee strut

The state of Tennessee might have thought it hit high ground when Memphis and Tennessee, then the top two ranked teams in the nation, played this season.

Well, a new summit has been reached: Memphis, seeded No. 1 in its regional, and No. 15 Austin Peay are among the five tournament teams from the state. The others are Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Belmont.

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Ironman

Derek Wright, a 5-foot-10 senior guard from Compton Dominguez High, has started every game for Austin Peay the last three seasons and started the last half of his freshman season.

This season, he leads the team with 89 steals and an average of 4.8 assists, and is second in scoring, averaging 11.7 points.

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This could be quite upsetting . . . or not

A top-seeded team has never lost in the first round of the tournament, but four No. 2 teams have lost since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

The last time it happened was 2001, when Hampton beat Iowa State, 58-57. That upset came 10 years after the first, when Richmond beat Syracuse.

Between, Santa Clara beat Arizona in 1993 and Coppin State beat South Carolina in 1997.

In the South Region there is No. 2 Texas vs. No. 15 Austin Peay, so don’t bet on that one being an upset.

A better place to look are the No. 12 vs. No. 5 matchups, with six upsets in the last seven tournaments.

So, No. 5 Michigan State? Look out against red-hot No. 12 Temple.

-- Mike Hiserman and Ben Bolch